So, through the 'Twitter', I came across the advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InxaH6DpCgc. I didn't get to it in time to view the comments. I personally don't think that any slight against us was in anyway conscious. I just kinda want to get your thoughts.

What is love? Well, you know that feeling you get when you've been locked in a tiny dark space alone for a year? It's kind of the opposite of that.

I actually thought it was fairly amusing, I suppose if you just read the text-part at the end I could see why it might be deemed offensive but in context it's fine. I think the girl had good comic timing. It was certainly one of the better adverts I've seen recently, but that's not exactly saying much.

Hmm. That's not actually as bad as I thought it'd be, from seeing the writing. Nowhere near as bad.

It still kinda sucks that asexuality isn't seen as a valid option. Then again, for most people, it isn't.And I think, whatever the intent, this idea that asexuals are trying to be good and pure is a terrible lie.

I just went on AVEN to check the reaction and they are going crazy about it, David Jay is doing some public facebook campaign to get the ad removed and all-sorts. Maybe it's just me being apathetic to the whole asexual "cause" but frankly I find the posts on the AVEN thread about it to be far more offfensive than the actual ad.

My test for whether an advertising agency or media outlet talking about asexuality is appropriate is to swap out one orientation for another. This is playing on stereotypes of asexuals being anti-social, what if it was playing on the negative stereotypes of a different sexual orientation?

I'd say that is offensive and damaging to asexuals. I doubt the ad agency would ever consider putting out a variation talking about a possibly pregnant woman irrationally considering becoming a lesbian, it's obviously offensive and would produce huge amounts of negative publicity.

So putting aside much of the AVEN reaction which is mixing up distaste for contraception and anti-sexuality, the message is playing on negative stereotypes and would not be acceptable if any other orientation were substituted for ours.

I'm not sure I'd have too much of a problem with it if all there was was the video, but with the purple, gray, against a white background? I simply cannot accept that this is a coincidence. Either they saw us as a sort of joke and wanted to promote their product by making fun of us, or it was more malicious--acceptance of asexuality is a serious threat to the pharmaceuticals goal to make crap loads of money on their "Cures" for "female sexual dysfunction" (a classification that they created and promoted.)

The ad didn't make me angry, but I certainly found it quite troubling. Against a broader political context of the asexual community getting its politics from LGBT politics, the response should be entirely expected--it's pretty standard in LGBT politics that if some group makes an ad that people find demeaning, you let them know that you are none too pleased. And you let all your friends know about it and tell them to let their friends know about it, who let all of their friends know about it, and then a whole lot of people are writing in.

I interpreted the Plan B color scheme as blue with a bit of green--to see if the purple and gray for asexuality might be just coincidental, I made sure to check the colors for the product, and I didn't feel that they could at all explain the use of purple and gray.

pretzelboy wrote:And you let all your friends know about it and tell them to let their friends know about it, who let all of their friends know about it, and then a whole lot of people are writing in.

I guess this is what annoys me a bit. People on AVEN are like sheep, a couple of people tell them how angry and offended they should be feeling and how they should sign some petition, and they just go along with it without much independent thought. It's all a bit cringe-worthy really.

Another aside, it seems the purple/grey scheme is very common is both pharmaceuticals and birth control. Paxil, Nexium, and Zoloft are all purple/grey, as well as Trojan condoms and numerous birth control pill manufacturers use this very color scheme. So saying it is a clear jab at asexuality to use that color scheme is quite a stretch.

fridayoak wrote: People on AVEN are like sheep, a couple of people tell them how angry and offended they should be feeling and how they should sign some petition, and they just go along with it without much independent thought. It's all a bit cringe-worthy really.

Appeal to emotion my friend. Fallacious as it is, it is perhaps the most effective persuasive tactic I know.

fridayoak wrote:I guess this is what annoys me a bit. People on AVEN are like sheep, a couple of people tell them how angry and offended they should be feeling and how they should sign some petition, and they just go along with it without much independent thought. It's all a bit cringe-worthy really.

If memory serves me correctly, people were complaining about this in the Athenian democracy. And the same basic principle is at work today.

Fair points. I guess I naively forget what society at large is like sometimes, living in my own little bubble most of the time. I shouldn't be surprised by the rabble-rousing on AVEN, but I guess when you see it played out on your computer screen in front of your eyes it makes it particularly frustrating and hard to stomach.

The most interesting thing to come out of all this is that the "asexual, asocial, a-everthing" line is also from a Jack Kerouac novel (Big Sur) from the early 60s, so there's a chance the ad's creators were using this as their reference point for asexuality.

Lots of people come to AVEN saying things like 'Can I become asexual?' because they've had bad experiences with sex. This ad seems almost exactly the same. 'I could try my hardest to give up sexual feelings and talking to people, or I could sort my problem out'. Not so bad suddenly, is it?

Around here things are a little more laid back than at some other sites. I don't mind if people add to an old thread as long as it seems to be in keeping with the topic.Maybe if the place ever gets busy that policy will have to change. but for now it's not a problem.As to "how"?Beats me?

Thank you for the information. I do understand that this is a rather slow forum, and I like your reasoning. Just for the record...I was born in the 1940's, so I am most assuredly an adult. The important part though, is probably that I consider myself being a mature individual who enjoys both a 'real' and an internet life.

I believe that an asexual forum gives the opportunity to create true, platonic friendships. That is what I look forward to here.